But after company officials sought changes to the contract terms and twice declined to sign the deal, Hamilton said, Mayor Tommy Battle decided to “end negotiations” with GBT and start talks with the developer that finished a close second in the original selection process. The city is now in early negotiations with Birmingham-based Merchants Retail Partners.

Sembler/Greenstone Properties of Atlanta was the other finalist following a months-long competitive bid process.

On Wednesday, Hamilton said Merchants Retail Partners seems “very, very interested” in buying the John Hunt Park land for a future shopping center. While the terms of any agreement have yet to be determined, the purchase price would likely be less than the $8.2 million originally offered by GBT.

Said Hamilton: “We remain very optimistic about the opportunity to bring new development to Memorial Parkway, and to do it in a way that directly contributes to investment in our park system that is so critical to our community’s quality-of-life.”